Roommate
by inkexpression
Summary: After the war with Gaia, everyone is left picking up the pieces. Those who are left, that is. As per Chiron's request, the survivors of the Argo II are taking it easy outside of camps for now, and Nico and Jason somehow ended up together. They only need to help each other survive this aftermath, and come out of it mostly whole and mostly sane.


Jason peered across the room over his newspaper, to the pale son of Hades sitting on the couch adjacent to his chair. It was one of his favorite pastimes, watching Nico when he wasn't aware of it. Okay, that sounded creepy. But it was true. There was something about the boy that fascinated him.

It was a calm summer morning, undisturbed light filtering in through the apartment windows and lighting the docile scene. They were in the living room, which also served as Nico's bedroom, lounging about and pretending that in this moment none of their outside obligations mattered. That they weren't being constantly hunted or trying to save the world or keeping restless gods in bare peace. It was too early to think about those things yet.

Nico was lying on the couch, head propped up on the armrest. He hadn't changed out of his grey skull-adorned oversized t-shirt and boxers yet, and his eyes were barely open. They were just barely cracked and drooped down from time to time, but it was enough to let Jason know that he was awake.

Not that Jason was much better off. He was still wearing his pajamas from last night, a wife beater and superman shorts, but that was the way of the mornings with them. Even though before living with Nico Jason had always been a morning person, he seemed to have degenerated into a similar nocturnal schedule that fit to Nico's style. Although, he thought that he did make Nico get out of bed a bit earlier than the boy ever had in the past.

Before, there were times when Jason would come over to Nico's cabin and he would still be asleep at noon or later. It was a mess.

But, in today's conditions, they had the right to be tired. Jason had needed three cups of coffee just to get started. Last night had been another bad one. There were times when one of them had nightmares, night terrors, or just couldn't sleep because of the terror of the war with Gaia. Usually it was Nico. Last night, it was Nico. But in those cases, they would rally their forces, all two of them, and pick themselves up. Or have a long night of sobbing or screaming, or, in some cases, just staring into space until morning came.

Because the war had just been that horrible. They were nearly the only ones left from the Argo II. It was just the two of them and Percy and Annabeth. Possibly Leo. They still didn't know about Leo.

So with Percy and Annabeth living together now, it only made sense for Jason and Nico to do so as well. It was dangerous to live alone after what they'd been through. They'd had enough suicides and developing insanities to know this. It was Chiron who decided that they needed a break, so Annabeth and Percy moved to New Rome while Jason and Nico rented out an apartment close to the camp. They had their own personal monster deterrent shield and everything. It was great.

Of course they had visitors from time to time, mostly people from Camp Half-Blood. The majority of Camp Jupiter saw Jason as a traitor, or a Greek at heart. He knew that there was some truth in it, but he wouldn't act on it. He'd had enough of the rivalry and the schism between camps, and he was perfectly fine falling into the crevice between them. It wasn't like he was particularly involved in that world right now, anyway.

No, right now, he only had to sit and pretend. Pretend none of it was real, for just this moment.

Nico shifted on the couch, rolling onto his side. His face was away from Jason, blocking his view of the tired eyes. He tried looking back to the newspaper. A few minutes of staring at it revealed that it was upside down, not that he could read it anyway.

Nico spoke suddenly, voice muffled by the couch.

"Jason, I know you're not reading that. We have dyslexia, remember? What do you want?"

His voice was groggy and hoarse for its first usage in the day.

"Nothing. I was just checking to see if I could read yet. Nope, I can't." He crumpled the paper and tossed it to the side. His clever ruse had been unmasked. He had no defense for this. Abort mission, abort mission!

"So, Nico, are you awake yet?"

"…I think so. Seeing as I'm talking and everything."

"Eh. Could be sleep talking. Happens all the time. Trust me, I'm a medical professional."

"Really."

"Yep. Now get up, we have things to do. Doctor's orders."

"Things to do? Like what?" Nico was still turned away, voice disembodied from his mouth. He didn't seem to care about the conversation at all.

"Well I have to get groceries so you should come."

"But that's your job. I make the brownies, you do the shopping. That's the deal."

"But Nico, it'll be fun!"

"You just don't want to go alone."

"Okay, that might be true, but it does not change the fact that you should come with me."

"No. Now, if you have to go, then go already, because we're completely out of food. We have nothing."

"How'd we manage that?"

"You did this last week and refused to go without me. Now go, or you won't have breakfast."

Jason thought back to the kitchen. He'd only checked on the coffee supply that morning, which was running low. And he was hungry.

"Fine. I'll go. But you have to come next time!" he shouted as he closed the door behind him. There was just enough time to hear Nico shout 'No I don't' before it shut. And he was off, smile on his face. He could have a worse roommate.

Nico had finally jumped from the couch, shouting at Jason before the door shut. He would not get caught in another stupid contract with him. He was still wearing an apron every time he made Jason's brownies from the last time that Jason yelled something he mindlessly agreed to.

But he couldn't help but feel a small smirk pass over his features. Jason Grace, for all his annoying habits, was a decent person to live with. Even if he did watch Nico when he thought he didn't notice. It was fine with him. It was nice.

**More to come… **

**Review and stuff if you want. This will be Jasico (be it romance or brotherhood, I haven't decided yet. Could swing either way), it does explain what happened after the war without regard for what may or may not happen in Blood of Olympus, and it may have depressing scenes. Watch out. **


End file.
